近日，外媒就公开了美国月球勘测轨道飞行器（LRO）所拍摄到到的中国嫦娥月球探测器在月面的活动。美国探测器拍到月球上中国嫦娥三号与“玉兔”位置，图中大箭头所指的就是嫦娥三号月球探测器
The rover is set to be released from the landing craft in “a few hours”， according to a post on Chang’e’s Weibo page late on Saturday。 Following separation， the rover will spend about three months exploring the moon’s surface and looking for natural resources。 The rover can climb slopes of up to 30 degrees and travel at 200 metres per hour， according to the Shanghai Aerospace Systems Engineering Research Institute。
根据周六晚上嫦娥微博页面上的一个帖子，月球车将在几个小时内从登陆飞船中释放出来，分离后探测器将花费3个月的时间对月球表面进行探索和寻找自然资源。根据上海航天系统工程研究所报告，月球车可以爬上30度的斜坡每小时可以行使200米。
The Chang’e-3 mission is named after the goddess of the moon in Chinese mythology and the rover vehicle is called Yutu， or Jade Rabbit， after her pet。 Yutu’s name was chosen in an online poll of 3。4 million voters。 Karl Bergquist， international relations administrator at the European Space Agency (ESA)， who has worked with Chinese space officials on the Chang’e-3 mission， told AFP the key challenge was to identify a flat location for the landing。 The Chang’e-3 mission follows Chang’e-1 in 2007 and Chang’e-2 in 2010， probes that were sent to orbit the moon。 The Chang’e-1 mission intentionally crashed into the lunar surface at the end of its mission。
嫦娥-3的使命用中国神话中月亮女神的名字命名，而月球车则被称为玉兔，女神宠物的名字。玉兔的名字是340万网民投票选出的。卡尔·贝格斯欧洲航天局国际关系专员，他曾与中国航天官员在嫦娥三号人物中一起工作，他告诉法新社记者，最关键的挑战是如何确定在一个平坦的位置着陆。嫦娥3号的使命紧接着2007年发射的嫦娥1号和2010年的嫦娥2号把探测器送往月球。嫦娥一号的使命是在其任务结束后撞向月球表面。
pace officials in China have spoken of a number of reasons behind moon exploration， including searching out natural resources and establishing a “springboard” for deep space exploration。 However， many observers believe utilising moon resources is a distant prospect， while its proximity to earth makes it an unlikely stopping off point for deep space missions。 “China wants to go to the moon for geostrategic reasons and domestic legitimacy，” said Joan Johnson-Freese， a professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College in Newport， Rhode Island， and an expert on Chinese space activities。 “With the US exploration moribund at best， that opens a window for China to be perceived as the global technology leader — though the US still has more， and more advanced， assets in space，” she added。
中国的航天官员谈到了对月球进行探测的原因，包括找出自然资源和建立一个深空探测的跳板。然而许多科学家认为利用月球资源的前景太过遥远，同时它靠近地球使得她不太可能成为深空探测任务的停止点。罗德岛纽波特美国海军战争学院国家安全事务和中国空间活动的专家Joan Johnson-Freese说：“中国想要去月球是地缘政治因素和证明自己国内的正统地位。”他补充说道：“随着最好的美国在探索中停滞不前，中国被认为打开了领先全球的技术窗口，尽管美国在太空中拥有更多，更先进的资产。”
